Bakersfield vs San Diego: Series Recap

The USPHL San Diego Sabers welcomed the Bakersfield Roughnecks to their home, Carlsbad for a three-game series that began on Friday, December 2. The Roughnecks struck first in the series coming out with a 1-0 lead about five minutes into the game however Felix Gouin scored his first goal of the season about ten minutes later in the first to tie it up. The second period gave everyone deja vu as the Roughnecks scored once more to lead 2-1 but about ten minutes after, Maxime Lebel scored a goal to tie it again at 2. Those goals ended up as the last goals in regulation as both teams held each other scoreless in the third to send it to overtime. 45 seconds into overtime, Ulric Martel netted the game-winner for an epic 3-2 win at home.

Saturday saw a team full of momentum as the Sabers put the game away in the first period scoring 5 goals from Sasha Rapchuk, Mathieu Rioux, Chase Parry, Michal Novak, and Lucas Lundy to go up 5-0. The Roughnecks responded with one goal in the second but Maxime Lebel brought the lead back to 5 early in the third for a 6-1 lead. The Roughnecks eventually scored one final goal in the third period but it was too late as the Sabers went on to win the game with a final score of 6-2 for another great win at home.

Photo by Active7media

Sunday was the final game in the series which saw the Sabers hungry for the sweep. The game was very much like the first game of the series where the Roughnecks scored first but Michal Novak tied it shortly after. The second period saw the same thing with the Roughnecks going up 2-1 however Lucas Lundy was not going to let them keep the lead as he tied it up at 2. The Sabers did not want a repeat of Friday and it was Chase Parry who scored the game-winner late in the second period. There was no scoring after that meaning the Sabers completed the sweep in front of the home crowd.

The Sabers look to ride the momentum as they continue their march for first place in the Pacific this Sunday, December 11 as they welcome the Long Beach Shredders to Carlsbad for a rematch of their 10-1 win in November.